-
Japan Expands Control in the Pacific
In 1930 the Japanese government was overtaken by Japan's military leaders. Even with the Japanese emperor still technically the leader of Japan, he had practically no control over the country at this point. The Japanese military took control of Manchuria in 1931. In 1937 Japan had captured many major railways on the coast of China. By 1938, Japan had taken over almost half of China. -
Period: to
Leading Up to the War
-
Germany Expands Control in Europe
When Hitler came into power in Germany, he started to sweep Europe by storm. In 1933 Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany, and by 1935, he was the country's sole leader. As he gained power in Germany, he started to spread his control in Europe. He captured Austria and part of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Hitler gained control of Poland by 1939 through his tactic of "Blitzkrieging" the country. Hitler's next target was France. It only took him 35 days to take control all of France. -
Concentration Camps to Death Camps
Hitler opened the first concentration camp in 1933. These camps were originally made to make "undesirables" in Germany into useful members of the country. Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and the physically disabled are among the many people groups that were considered "undesirable" to the Nazis. In 1942, these camps soon became death camps where Nazis commited mass genocide through the use of gas chambers, starvation, and practically any form of murder they could imagine. -
Kristallnacht
On November 9, 1938, the Nazi police, the Gestapo, vandalized many buildings and parts of German cities that were associated with Jews. This persecution of Jews was called the Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass." The Gestapo burned and broke windows to thousands of synagogues and stores owned by Jews. The Nazi government blamed the destruction on Jews and arrested many of them, claiming that there was tension in the Jewish community, which supposedly explained the violence. -
Period: to
World War II
-
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941 Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor, a U.S. Navy base in Hawaii. They sent 6 aircraft carriers and 360 planes along with several battleships, cruisers, and submarines. The attack left 2,402 people killed, 1,282 people wounded, 8 battleships, 3 destroyers, and 160 aircraft destroyed. The intent behind the attack was to try to destroy U.S. forces in the Pacific to prevent American influence in Japan's quest to expand control. -
The Manhattan Project
President Roosevelt had the U.S. start working on the development of the atomic bomb because of a letter signed by Albert Einstein in 1942 warning the president that work on the atomic bomb needed to be underway. The top scientist on this project was a physicist named Robert Oppenheimer. Los Alamos, New Mexico was the main work site for this project, and some work was conducted in Oak Ridge, Tennesses. The first successful test of the bomb occured on July 16, 1945 In Los Alamos. -
Allies Fight Back
Since 1940, British troops had been fighting German and Italian troops in North Africa. The Allies decided to continue the fighting in North Africa in order to push their way to Italy. General Erwin Rommel and his German troops pushed through the U.S. line in 1943, but he soon had to retreat due to lack of supplies for his troops. The Allies then headed to Sicily and slowly progressed north. On September 3 1943, Italy finally surrendered to the Allies. -
D-Day
Planning and preparations for D-Day started in November 1943 at the Tehran Conference. The Allied forces called it Operation Overlord, and it included 21 U.S., 26 UK, 1 Canadian, and 1 Polish divisions. These troops attacked 5 different beaches on France's coast named, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The most fierce fighting happened on Omaha beach, where American troops fought. Eventually the Allied troops pushed German troops slowly out of France. -
Battle of the Bulge
As the Allies made their way towards Germany, Hitler ordered German soldiers who spoke English to dress in U.S. uniforms to get behind enemy lines to confuse U.S. troops by cutting telephone lines and changing road signs. This allowed German troops to start to break through Allied forces, causing a bulge in the troops' line, which became the Battle of the Bulge. Eventually, the Allies were able to regain control and fight to victory. On May 7,1945, Germany surrendered. -
Progress in the Pacific
The U.S. continued to fight and push towards Japan through a strategy called island-hopping. First came the Battle of Midway, which was the turning point for the U.S. troops, because they had finally started to be on the offensive against Japan. Then, came the Battle of Iwo Gima in February of 1945, which was one of the fiercest battles in the island-hopping process. Lastly was the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945 to June 1945, which gave the U.S. a strategic place to invade Japan from. -
The Atomic Bomb
The Allies had finally made an atomic bomb, but the question was if they should use it or not. President Truman decided that in order to save many American lives, the U.S. should drop the bomb on Japan. On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima, killing almost 120,000 Japanese civilians. Then, on August 9, 1945 the U.S. dropped another atomic bomb in Nagasaki. On September 2, 1945, Japan officially surrendered to the U.S., which ended World War II.
